Polyhierarchical Structure in a Thesaurus

Before you start your own thesaurus project, it is important to understand how a thesaurus fundamentally differs from traditional hierarchical folder structures like Windows Explorer.

While folder trees enforce a strict parent-child relationship where each item exists in only one location, a thesaurus functions as a semantic network with polyhierarchical capabilities. This means concepts can simultaneously belong to multiple categories.

Consider the example where a concept labeled 'Three Rings' can be classified both as a sub-concept of 'Elvish Items' (1) and as a sub-concept of 'Rings' (2). Despite appearing in two different locations in the visual hierarchy, 'Three Rings' exists as a single entity in the system, identified by one unique URI. This polyhierarchical structure allows for more flexible and nuanced knowledge organization that better reflects the complex relationships between concepts in the real world.